The heavy focus of the Milan menswear collections this season has been on outerwear (Burberry's stormy-weather collection is top of mind), and the Alexander McQueen collection was in lock step trend-wise, with a razor-sharp collection inspired by regimental military dress and grounded in a palette of navy blue, black and gray with pops of red and gold.

The emphasis was on great coats, shearling bomber jackets, tartan ponchos and voluminous capes that seemed to trail behind the models, crisply frozen in mid-billow (a look accomplished by bonding felted wool to leather and velvet).

These crisp outerwear pieces were layered over outfits that combined casual pieces (drawstring sweat pants, ribbed turtlenecks) with more formal-looking but equally soft and unstructured garments rendered in chalk stripes, Prince of Wales checks and gray flannels.

A contrast stripe of red along the asymmetrical button placket of a black shirt created the effect of a regimental sash draped diagonally across the chest, and a zippered track jacket bore the ghostly image of a military medal surrounded by the swirling mercurial patterns that are a recurring motif at the label.

For some reason the collection made me think of Roger Waters' live (and currently touring) performance of Pink Floyd's rock opera "The Wall," and as I stepped out of the Alexander McQueen show into the cold, foggy Milan night, that peculiar blend of military and melancholy that both manage to evoke wrapped itself around me like a billowing cape.

-- Adam Tschorn in Milan, Italy

Photos: Looks from the Alexander McQueen fall and winter 2011 men's runway collection shown during Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For The Times

In his first collection for Woolrich Woolen Mills, Mark McNairy made it clear that he's not as much replacing Daiki Suzuki as the designer at the label (though he does succeed him in that position) as much as he his writing his own chapter in the life of the label.

"I really wanted to move away from the Buffalo plaid thing," McNairy told me, in reference to the iconic pattern associated with the Woolrich brand and his predecessor. McNairy certainly didn't mean it as snark, simply that he was ready to chart his own course. As if to silently counter any such suggestion, he and Suzuki collaborated on one of the pieces of the collection: a redesigned version of the arctic parka, dubbed the Four Hands Parka, that serves as a symbolic passing of the torch.

Sometimes Miuccia Prada can be a tough riddle to unravel when it comes to inspiration, but this season's  theme was as easy to see as the three-page show invitation printed on see-through plastic, the striated, stacked and meticulously sliced finger sandwiches served to arriving guests and the double-decker runway framed in wrought-iron fencing designed by architect Rem Koolhaas.

We're talking layers here, people. Not the jacket-over-sweater-over-shirt kind of layers -- although that was certainly part of it -- but layers of personality, mood and time.

One layer that was definitely present was what might be considered old-school Prada (or, if you want to add another layer, "Prada doing Prada") -- boxy black three-button jackets, some with high, short notch lapels, others with fold-down collars in various sizes, as well as austere-looking black polo shirts.

The biggest news in the fashion world Monday is coming out of Sunday's Golden Globes and the men's collections on the runways in Milan. Our Adam Tschorn will keep you up to date on the latter on All the Rage this week. Then he'll fly to Paris to report on what's happening there.

One thing to look forward to in Paris: Nicola Formichetti, the new creative director at Thierry Mugler, has tapped client Lady Gaga to create the soundtrack for Mugler's show on Wednesday. [WWD]

We had wondered if the Golden Globes would lift the red carpet out of the doldrums it seemed to be stuck in last year, as stars and starlets walked a new gantlet of photographers almost every week at a multitude of awards shows, charity events and premieres. Times' Fashion Critic Booth Moore applauded the minimalism she saw in her favorite looks at this year's Globes, worn by actresses such as Tilda Swinton, Claire Danes, Emma Stone and Hailee Steinfeld. [LAT] Across the pond, the Telegraph agreed that less was more. [Telegraph] Women's Wear Daily liked seeing color -- blush, pink, emerald green -- on the carpet. [WWD]

StyleList got off some zingers about a few of the hairstyles, being almost as mean (and funny) as Ricky Gervais: "Scarlett Johansson opened the show fresh from a hair appointment  with whatever salon worked on the Bride of Frankenstein. Maybe she was trying to send a message about Ryan Reynolds -- the soon-to-be-ex-'groom' to her 'bride' -- to Sandra Bullock, who has recently been keeping company with the actor. Sandra herself had the other funky hair look of the night, a severe style with bangs that evoked Cleopatra had she been a member of the Manson family. You would definitely not want to have been caught between those women backstage!" Meow! [StyleList] 

Mila Kunis was glowing, and maybe it was because esthetician Scott-Vincent Borba had tested his new, not-yet-available-to-the-public $7,000 facial on her. That's right -- 7 and three zeroes. The facial uses rubies and diamonds. [InStyle] 

In non-Globes-related news, word has it that Kate Middleton won't reveal the name of her wedding gown designer until the royal nuptials April 29, but speculation that it is British designer Bruce Oldfield -- a favorite of Princess Diana's -- kicked into high gear over the weekend. [People]

The world's fascination with Coco Chanel continues. "Culture Chanel," an exhibition of more than 400 items tracing her life, opened in Shanghai over the weekend and is scheduled to run through March 14. [WWD] 

Shay Todd, which sells high-end swimwear, plans to open a shop on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. [Mondette]

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Sandra Bullock at Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Burberry's chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, made it rain on the (indoor) runway for the finale of the Burberry Prorsum show, sending his models down the slick catwalk wearing transparent hooded ponchos.

Sure it was gimmicky, but it helped underscore the Fall and Winter 2011 season's emphasis on protective outerwear pieces, standouts of which included a boxy, oversized blanket coat in a bold blue check and a wool duffel coat in bright tangerine.

Insulation from the cold also came in the form of fur, which was generously used on the lapels of a double-breasted three-quarter-length coat, patched into chunky cable-knit sweaters, piled onto driving caps and wrapped around holdalls and tote bags.

As part of Burberry's evolution of the runway-to-retail concept, outerwear and accessories from the show were made instantly available for pre-order (with delivery promised within two months) through Jan. 23 at the brand's website.

-- Adam Tschorn in Milan, Italy

Photos: Looks from the Fall and Winter 2011 Burberry Prorsum men's runway collection, Jan. 15, 2011, at Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For the Los Angeles Times

The glam gals of the Golden Globes weren't the only ones in the green zone this week. The runways of Milan turned out to be chock full of verdant hues too -- solid shades of bottle, hunter and emerald green at labels like Salvatore Ferragamo, Moncler Gamme Bleu and Roberto Cavalli; smart green and purple tartans at Vivienne Westwood; and light-catching Lurex V-neck pullovers at Prada.

What's behind the oasis of greenery in the midst of the Fall and Winter 2011 collections? Maybe, as the economy finally turns a corner, it's the fashion community's subconscious yearning for an altogether different sort of green -- as in cash money.

-- Adam Tschorn in Milan, Italy

More coverage of Milan Fashion Week

Photos: Guys in green garb were on the runway at (from left) Prada, Vivienne Westwood Man, Salvatore Ferragamo and Moncler Gamme Bleu. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For the Los Angeles Times

Men's Fashion Week in Milan is only half over, and I've definitely noticed a serious '70s vibe from the get-go.

First, there was the relaunch of the Jimmy Choo men's footwear collection that had a certain '70s Mayfair playboy flair (in an earlier post, I called it "one part James Bond and two parts Austin Powers"), then Roberto Cavalli closed out Day One in a groovy mood -- filling his runway with dudes in three-piece suits, all tight jackets, broad lapels, boldly patterned shirts with necks wrapped in foulards and draped in Native American-inspired jewelry.

Day Two gave us Salvatore Ferragamo (set to a blasting "Doors" soundtrack, including some of Jim Morrison's spoken-word poetry just to set the mood) with a soft parade of cashmere overcoats, suede trousers, supple leather jackets and felted hats.

The wide shoulders, double-breasted jackets and funky details like the leather lacing at the V-neck of a ribbed knit sweater completed the 40-year rewind illusion, and by the time the model hit the runway in a green beret, green turtleneck, beige double-breasted jacket and shearling coat, it felt for all the world like it could have been a faded photo negative of the style of outfit worn by the Black Panther Party of the day.

It'll be interesting to see whether the next two days of shows here in Milan find designers mining the "Me Decade" as deeply. 

-- Adam Tschorn, reporting from Milan, Italy

Photos: The '70s aesthetic was in evidence on the runways of Milan this week, including at Roberto Cavalli, left and second from left, and Salvatore Ferragamo, right and second from right. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For The Times

At Dolce & Gabbana, the show notes were labeled "eccentric tailoring" and that wasn't a reference to the choice of Bryan Ferry as inspiration (the British singer's album artwork appeared on T-shirts in the show, his songs "Shameless" and "One Night" accompanied the runway presentation and Ferry himself was front row).

It meant the shrunken jackets, the lower trouser rise, the mix-and-match patchwork of gray fabrics and and what seemed to be an exercise in pocket science -- cramming an inordinate number of zippered and buttoned pockets onto a single pair of pants.

The fall-winter 2011 collection was based in the black and gray color palette, with a heavy splash of red throughout, including in a red-and-black floral brocade suit, red-and-black horizontal striped sweaters, red military-inspired flight jackets and a handful of red-painted denim. There was also a colorful punch of purple -- most memorably in a glittery disco ball of a tuxedo jacket -- that added to the relaxed, informal feel of the collection.

That vibe was underscored by the tuxedos that hit the runway for the finale. Instead of traditional tuxedo pants, the jackets and bow ties were paired with faded, distressed denim. Call it California casual through the Dolce & Gabbana filter.

-- Adam Tschorn, reporting from Milan, Italy

Photos: Looks from the Dolce & Gabbana fall-winter 2011 men's runway collection shown during Milan Fashion Week on Jan. 15, 2011. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.

Fresh off a year-long centennial celebration, Ermenegildo Zegna wasted no time letting the world know where it is focusing at the beginning of its second century -- China.

On the business side, China has been on the Zegna radar for the last two decades, which is how long the label has had a presence in that country, and the last couple of years it's been a big part of the brand's expansion efforts. So a Fall and Winter 2011 collection titled in the show notes as "In the Mood For China" doesn't come as much of a surprise.

What did come as a surprise was the way the usually subtle-to-the-point-of-stealth collection invoked that Chinese mood: borrowing liberally from the looks of uniforms from the Chinese Revolution, rendering a piece of classical Chinese art in woven silk fabric that appears throughout the collection and going heavy on lacquered red and bronze accents.

Upon close look, even the most subtle pieces payed homage to the season's theme -- the stripes of a wool pinstripe suit resemble -- ever so slightly --- the distinctive shape of bamboo cane.

Along with the military luxe look of the belted soldiers came lots of dangling exterior leather holsters hanging from those belts (not a good look -- unless you're a Boy Scout) and some seriously oversized fur hats (fuzzy headgear was all over the runway on Day 1 in Milan).

Zegna also opened the first chapter of its second century with a little bit of high-tech runway wizardry which it calls "Live-D" -- essentially sending the models past a green screen en route to the actual runway and adding a background, with the  image being displayed on a giant screen at the top of th runway.

The resulting effect is that the audience sees a model trudge along the Great Wall of China for a few yards before emerging onto the catwalk in Milan.

The effect was impressive for the first few looks, and I'm sure it won't be the last time it's used, but the magic dissipates quickly with repetition.

But I have to give Zegna its due -- for a brand that often seems to sacrifice style for safety, the Fall and Winter 2011 collection was a great leap forward.

-- Adam Tschorn, reporting from Milan

Photos: At top, Ermenegildo Zegna's "Live-D" fashion show used a green screen to make models look like they were hiking along the Great Wall of China, among other locations. At bottom, looks from the Ermenegildo Zegna Fall and Winter 2011 men's runway collection shown in Milan during men's fashion week on Saturday. Credit: Peter Stigter and Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times.

The debut of the relaunched men's footwear collection for Jimmy Choo has a little bit for everyone and includes many of the signatures found in the women's collection.

"It's basically for the boyfriend of our existing Jimmy Choo customer," as one company representative put it, "but also someone who appreciates details." (And by that she presumably means details beyond simply the fact that his lady friend wears Jimmy Choos.)

On Friday evening, the night before the official start of the fall-winter 2011 menswear shows in Milan, the mood in a showroom on Via Gesu was decidedly blue -- as in neon blue cocktails, dishes of blue candy and white walls smeared with blue paint.

"Blue is modern and fluid," Umberto Angeloni told me as he brandished a 12-page booklet extolling the virtues of the color, which included quotes from Baudelaire and Bukowski and references to Pablo Picasso and Yves Klein.

Angeloni is best known in the menswear business as the longtime chief executive at Italian suiting label Brioni, and he is the creative force behind Uman.

"I left Brioni in 2007 and cashed in my shares and watched as the whole world started to crumble," he told me, referring to the toll the global economic crisis took on the world.

Here's a good way for a fashion brand to increase its number of Facebook followers: Make a live streaming video of the runway show available only to official "fans."

That's what Versace has announced plans to do, starting with the upcoming Fall and Winter 2011 menswear collection. Clicking the thumbs-up "Like" button at the top of the label's official Facebook page is all it takes.

The show will be streamed live starting at 8 a.m. Monday, and fans apparently will be able to chat live with one another, follow the official Versace Twitter feed and take a look back at previous seasons.

Live streaming of runway shows has become increasingly common, but this is the first I'm aware of that's using Facebook as a platform. It'll be interesting to see what kind of bump the page gets in fans (as of this writing, it lists 374,229 "likes").

My guess is, this won't be the last runway show streamed on Facebook.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: looks from the Versace Spring and Summer 2011 menswear runway collection shown in Milan in June 2010. The upcoming Fall and Winter 2011-12 runway show will be streamed live through Facebook starting at 8 a.m. PST Monday. Credit: Peter Stigter and Jonas Gustavsson / For the Los Angeles Times